We know that there are a lot of social networks, with new social networks launched everyday. Most of these social networks die because not many people use them.

I believe that the issue may often be that these sites do not separate themselves from existing social networks. Most of these networks are almost exactly the same as a Facebook, Twitter, Digg or Flickr and since they are going for the same audience they have very little chance at surviving.

I think that in general the future of social networks is to create social networks for smaller niche groups. Take for instance a site that i have been working on. The Porsche Guys Club, which is a free on-line Porsche auto club. The idea of this social network is to connect Porsche fans in the same way as a traditional auto club, but without the cost and overhead of a traditional club.